Facebook campaign against Jersey minister

Haut de la Garenne, the former children's home at the centre of a child abuse inquiry

By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter

3:30PM GMT 05 Mar 2008

The chief minister of Jersey is facing mounting pressure to resign in the wake of the island's child abuse scandal, with thousands of people signing up to protest groups on the social networking website Facebook.

Five separate groups calling for the removal of Senator Frank Walker have so far attracted more than 2,000 members, and Mr Walker is likely to face further criticism at a rally being held on Saturday in the island's capital, St Helier, called Time 4 Change.

Mr Walker, who has been in office since 2005, was accused last week of being more concerned with the island's image than the child abuse allegations, after he was overheard accusing a fellow senator of "trying to shaft Jersey internationally" by drawing attention to the problem.

Police have been investigating alleged child abuse at the Haut de la Garenne former children's home in Jersey for more than a year, and so far more than 160 alleged victims have come forward.

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The discovery of part of a child's skull buried under a concrete floor in the Victorian building last month prompted fears that children may have been murdered during decades of alleged abuse at the home.

Excavations will continue for at least another month as police search for more human remains.

Detectives are also investigating claims of an establishment cover-up which had until now apparently allowed the allegations of abuse to remain secret.

Another group called Jersey's Frank Walker Should Resign, which has more than 320 members, states: "The Chief Minister, Frank Walker, should resign for his unashamed prioritisation of Jersey's international image over the due process of the justice system for the hundreds of children and young people apparently mistreated, raped and even killed in the Island's care system over the last 70 years."

The organisers of the Time 4 Change rally hope many of the Facebook protestors will join the demonstration in St Helier's Royal Square, where a minute's silence for the victims of abuse will be followed by calls for changes in a political system which, critics say, enables scandals to be swept under the carpet.

Jersey has no political parties and its parliament has been characterised as an oligarchy run by a ruling elite drawn from the world of finance and business.

Montfort Tadier, the 28-year-old organiser of the rally, said: "There has been talk of reform in the past but it has never been taken seriously. But we want to bring an end to the culture that has allowed these events to happen."